Fire within a huge tree stump pile at Haverhill’s Kimball Farm kept Haverhill firefighters and mutual aid partners busy Tuesday night and Wednesday.
The Haverhill Fire Department was dispatched around 9:40 p.m., Tuesday, to the farm at 791 East Broadway, Haverhill. Fire Chief Robert M. O’Brien said the fire appears to have started from natural heated decomposition. He said it is a relatively common occurrence at farms.
“It was a big pile where they put their stumps…it’s a really nagging type of fire and we flooded it with a lot of water,” O’Brien said.
A bulldozer was necessary to reach part of the source and mutual aid came from West Newbury and the state Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Bureau of Forest Fire Control, which provided additional water tankers.
The chief explained fires of this type smolder, getting to them is like digging up the earth and they demand a lot of water.
The farm, which dates back to 1820, is operated by ninth generation farmer Tyler Kimball. Kimball, is a retired career Haverhill firefighter himself and continues to serves as one of the city’s call firefighters.